The present invention relates generally to the dairy art and more particularly, to dairy freestall housing apparatus.
Dairy freestall housing provides for the resting, eating, exercising and drinking of producing dairy cows. The primary purpose of a freestall system is to shelter cows and their feeding and resting areas from hot summer sun, precipitation and cold winds, while providing optimum ventilation during all periods of the year. Cow freestalls or cubicles provide the cows with a clean dry and comfortable resting area. The cow is not restrained but is free to lie down, stand up, enter and leave the freestall whenever she desires. A dairy freestall system includes one or more rows of stalls, with each stall accommodating a single cow. The stalls should provide comfort, promote cleanliness and prevent injuries to the cows while providing enough room for the largest cow in the herd, as well as smaller cows, to enter freely, lie down, rest comfortably and rise easily. The stalls are defined by pairs of like pipe loops which extend horizontally over the base of the stall with their front ends secured to a pair of rails at an angle of 90.degree. to such rails. The upper reach of each pipe loop is horizontally provided with an elongated training restraint designed to force a cow to back out of her stall so as to defecate in the freestall alley rather than upon the base of the stall where the cow stands. The alleys provide the cow with safe convenient passages to other areas of the freestall system and such alleys also can form part of the manure handling system. Manure, urine and spilled feed that accumulates in the alleys are removed by using a scraper, flushing with water or allowing manure to drop through holes in slotted floors. Manure must be removed regularly from the cow housing area to be placed in storage or directly applied to agricultural fields. In the absence of frequent manure removal, messy alleys and dirty cows will result.